Edwaed heaton



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEo Aww n IMPROVEMENT IN METALLIC SHANKS FORB'OOTS AND SHOES- Specification forming part of Letters Patent No.41,701, dated February 23, 1864.

To :LZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD HEA'roN, of New Haven, in the county of NewHaven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Metallic Shanks for Boots and Shoes 5 and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of thesame, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and theletters of reference marked thereon, and which said drawings constitutepart of this specification, and represent, in

Figure l, a plan or top view of a metallic shank with my improvementattached; Fig. 2, a longitudinal section of the same, and in Fig. 3 adifferent construction of the same.

My invention rela-tes to an improvement in the shank invented by myselfand Joseph L. Joyce, and for which Letters Patent were granted tousbearing date onor about the 8th. day of October, A. D. 186i. We rhaveheretofore made these shanks, as described in the said Letters Patent,of a single thin piece of sheetsteel, that metal being the best for thepurpose. After the shanks are struck out by means of a press orotherwise, it is neces sary to give to them a spring temper, and we havefound that this can only be done properly by hammering them. This labormakes the chie-f item of expense; but in hammering, one part may bestrained more than another, which ren ders them liable to break inwearing.

To avoid this great expensein tempering, as also the liability to break,is the object of my invention, which consists in attaching an auxiliaryspring, made from a piece of tempered steel, to the untempered shank toserve as the principal spring for the shank whereby I avoid thenecessity of tempering the shank itself, and consequently the liabilityto break.

To enable others skilled in the art to make A is the shank of the formheretofore used, and as described in the Letters Patent before referredto, is cut from a piece of sheetsteel, and punched, as shown in Fig. 1,for the purpose of attaching to the boot or shoe. This piece hasheretofore been tempered by hammering by hand, as and with the resultbefore mentioned.

I use this shank without tempering it, retaining it in the form andcondition in which it comes from the several dies used in cutting out,bending, and punching. I attach to this shank an auxiliary spring, c,made from steel or other suitable metal. I make them from the wastepieces unavoidably made in cutting out the shanks. I cut them to theproper form (see Fig. l) and bend them to the required curve, as seeFig. 2. I then temper the spring in the common manner, after which Iattach the auxiliary spring to the shank by a rivet, i, or otherconvenient manner. This gives to the shank a better elasticity than canbe produced by any temper which can be given to the. shank alone.

This spring may be of various forms, to take a bearing upon other pointson the shank, (see Fig. 3,) but experience proves the form abovedescribed to be the best and cheapest.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new anduseful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination, with a. metallic shank, of an auxiliary spring,substantially in the manner and for the purpose specified.

EDWARD HEATON. Witnesses:

JOHN E. EARLE, RUFUs SANFORD.

